Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act 2005

EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 -- (Senate - April 12, 2005)

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I want to follow on the comments of Senator Kyl because we are working together on this important legislation, what we hope and expect will be comprehensive immigration reform. The message both of us would like to convey is that this is a complex topic. It can't be accomplished this week, especially not on supplemental appropriations designed to make sure our troops have the equipment and resources they need to fight the global war on terrorism.

Let me give a little background to explain my perspective. It tracks closely with what Senator Kyl has already said.

Our Nation's immigration system is badly broken. It leaves our borders unprotected, threatens our national security, and makes a mockery of the rule of law. We have failed to enforce our laws and to protect our borders for far too long through years of neglect. In a post-9/11 world, we simply cannot tolerate this situation any longer. National security demands a comprehensive solution to our immigration problem.

Senator Kyl and I have determined that we would work together. We have a particular interest, being Senators from two border States along the southern border where the illegal immigration is perhaps the most rampant. We also want to come up with a plan that addresses not only our national security but deals with the economic issues that are integrally intertwined with this complex issue in a way that is compassionate and deals with the very real human consequences and causes for illegal immigration.

We are undertaking a thorough review of our immigration laws as we speak. At the conclusion of our discussions, Senator Kyl and I plan to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill that will dramatically strengthen enforcement, bolster border security, and comprehensively reform our laws. I particularly am glad to be working with Senator Kyl. He chairs the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security, and I chair the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Citizenship. We have already had our first hearing, a joint hearing, on border security. The second one, this Thursday, will focus on interior enforcement, or maybe I should say interior nonenforcement, when it comes to our immigration laws.

In the past, we have simply not devoted the funds, the resources, or the manpower to properly enforce our immigration laws and protect our borders. That must change. If we have anything to do with it, it will change.

Let me put the matter as clearly and explicitly as I possibly can. No discussion of comprehensive immigration reform is possible without a clear commitment to, and a dramatic elevation in, our efforts to enforce the law. That includes enforcement both at the border and within the interior. We must have strong border protection between ports of entry and a strong employee verification system to put an end to the jobs magnet for illegal entry.

Our immigration laws also present substantial difficulties to our already overburdened law enforcement and border security officials, separate and apart from inadequate funding and resources. It is my belief these difficulties simply cannot be solved by additional funding and additional resources alone, as important as they are. After all, under our current immigration laws, literally millions of people enter this country outside of legal channels to hold jobs that are offered by American businesses and are needed to ensure American economic growth. There is a serious concern that some fraction of this population may harbor evil impulses toward our country. Yet it is a practical impossibility to separate the well meaning from the ill-intentioned.

Put simply, we must focus our scarce resources on the highest risks to our country and our national security. We need our law enforcement and border security officials to spend their highest energies on people who wish to do us harm rather than those who wish only to help themselves and their families through work. Our comprehensive immigration proposal will strengthen enforcement of the law, but it will also provide laws that are capable of strong enforcement.

We agree with the President's stated principles. They are, however, just principles, and certainly he understands and looks to the Congress to come up with the specifics in the form of legislation. Such laws can be designed in a way to be compassionate and humane. Above all, they must be designed to protect U.S. sovereignty and to further U.S. interests. They must be reformed to better serve our national security and our national economy. They must ensure respect for the rule of law and not permit undocumented workers to gain an advantage over those who have followed the rules.

In the coming months we will craft a proposal that implements all those objectives, and we welcome the coming debate as well as the input and the opportunity to work with our colleagues in the Senate.

Finally, we speak today as the Senate is about to begin debate on a supplemental appropriations bill. Congress should not delay enactment of critical appropriations necessary to ensure the well-being of our men and women in uniform fighting in Iraq and elsewhere around the world. Attempting to conduct a debate about immigration reform while the supplemental appropriations bill is pending in the Senate would do just that--it would unnecessarily and inappropriately delay getting those funds to our troops who need them. Our immigration system is badly broken and fails to serve the interests of our national security and our national economy and undermines respect for the rule of law.

To solve that problem, Congress must engage in a careful and deliberate discussion about the need to bolster enforcement of and to comprehensively reform our immigration laws. We should not short-circuit that discussion by enacting legislation outside of the regular order of business in the House and the Senate. I hope we will enact this supplemental appropriations bill soon. Once that process is completed, I will continue to work closely with Senator Kyl and any other Member of this body who has a good idea to contribute to enact comprehensive immigration reform that is in the best interests of our Nation.

I yield the floor.

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